Boris Johnson suspends Parliament, causing uproar

THE PRESSURE is rising in the battle between Boris Johnson, who is determined to lead Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal on October 31st, and Parliament, where a majority of MPs want to stop a no-deal Brexit. This week opposition parties agreed that, when the Commons returns on September 3rd, they will try to hijack its agenda to pass a law calling for another extension of the Brexit deadline. But a day later Mr Johnson trumped them by announcing a long suspension of Parliament, from September 11th to October 14th, when a Queen’s Speech will start a new session.

The prime minister claimed this was a normal way for a new government to set out its plans on crime, health and so on. Yet his main goal is the cynical one of shortening the time for MPs to stop no-deal. At almost five weeks, it will be Parliament’s longest suspension before a Queen’s Speech since 1945. The response was apoplectic. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour’s leader, labelled the move a “smash and grab on our democracy”. The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, called it a “constitutional outrage”. Even many Tories were unhappy. Ruth Davidson, the party’s popular leader in Scotland and a long-standing critic of Mr Johnson, quit the next day.

The oddity is that a week earlier Mr Johnson was speaking of progress towards a Brexit deal. He...